"What's up?"

"I think we need to talk."

"Okay, what about?"

STEFAN'S POV:

"You're not making this easy, Caroline." I sighed, running my hands over my face

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what this is about…" she admitted

"Don't you? Really?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at her

"No, should I?" she inquired

"It's about everything since the weekend;" I informed her "it's about you and me, us…"

"Us?" she asked, swallowing a lump in her throat

"Yeah, us." I replied "You said something in your sleep last night and I need to know what it meant."

"What did I say?" she questioned

"You said, and I quote "I don't want to pretend any more, Stefan.". What did it mean?" she inquired

"Seeing as though I wasn't conscious at the time, I have no idea." she admitted "Maybe it was to do with the wedding and lying to my Mom. It's really getting to me, you know that."

"Then be honest with her. Tell her we're not together. There's a simple solution to it, Caroline." I replied

"You know I don't want to put her under any more stress than she is already. She's coming to terms with having a life-long illness, Stefan. We're just going to have see this through and then I'll tell her we've broken up." she informed me "And then it'll all be done with."

"So what you said, it meant nothing?" I questioned

"I don't think so; no," she replied "is that everything? I'm running late to my lecture…"

I nodded my head… "Yeah, I guess I'll see you later."

"You will. Bonnie suggested we had a girls night, and it's Elena's turn to host." she informed me

"Great. I'll see you at mine tonight then." I replied

"Yeah, I guess so." she admitted

CAROLINE'S POV:

Stefan followed me out of my dorm room and I locked the door behind me, watching him as he walked off and turned down the corridor and out of sight. Leaning back against my door, I sighed heavily…

"Hey, Caroline…" Elena's voice spoke, snapping me from my trance

"Hey." I mirrored, exhaling a breath "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to see if you fancied walking to lectures together. I'm surprised you're still here, actually." she admitted

"Yeah, I'm running late." I informed her "Stefan and I needed to talk."

"Bonnie told me about the weekend, why do you think he did it?" she questioned

I shrugged my shoulders in reply as we began to walk… "That's one question I don't have an answer to."

"We should ask him tonight. He'll be home when you and Bon come over!" she proclaimed

"You're calling it home now?" I inquired

"That's what it is, isn't it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me

"I suppose," I replied "and no, we're not asking him. Do you realise how awkward that would be?"

"Isn't it something you want to know the answer to though?" she questioned

"Of course it is," I admitted "but I'll ask him when the time is right, not just because you want to know."

STEFAN'S POV:

I heard a car make it's way up the driveway and looked out of the living room window. Seeing Caroline's car park up and her headlights switch off, I downed the last of my Bourbon and waited until she knocked at the door, opening it to her a couple of minutes later…

"Hey." she greeted me

"Hey, Elena's not back yet…" I informed her

"Oh, right, okay then." she replied "Early as always."

I nodded my head in agreement… "Drink? I'm just about to have one."

"Smells like you've had enough." she admitted

"Last time I checked, you weren't my Mom." I replied

"Sorry for caring." she sighed

"You don't give a shit, Caroline!" I proclaimed

"Excuse me?" she questioned

"You heard me. You don't give a shit." I informed her

"Where's all this coming from?" she inquired

"Just forget it." I scoffed "I need to feed."

"Stefan, wait!" she proclaimed as I vamp-sped out of the house and into the woods, ignoring her calls of my name

CAROLINE'S POV:

"Caroline, what's wrong?" Elena asked, hurrying over to me as I sat on the sofa in the Salvatore house living room, sobs racking through my body

"Stefan and I had a row," I informed her "I don't even know why I'm crying to be honest."

"He's your best friend. You're bound to be upset. What happened?" she inquired

"I don't wanna talk about it." I admitted "Can we just start girl's night and forget all about him?"

She nodded her head and smiled at me warmly… "What movie are we going to watch?"

STEFAN'S POV:

I arrived back at the house after hunting and walked into the kitchen, stopping in my tracks as I saw Caroline stood at the sink, sipping on a glass of water…

"I was just going…" she admitted

"Wait," I begged, placing my hand on the other side of the door, stopping her from leaving the kitchen "can I explain what happened earlier?"

"Not right now," she replied "I'm tired and just want to go to bed."

"Please, Caroline." I sighed "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Do you seriously think you can just say sorry and I'll forgive you?" she questioned

"No," I replied "which is why I want to explain."

"I get why you said what you said. You were drunk." she informed me "But it still hurts."

"Y'know, I thought we were going to be honest with each other earlier…" I admitted

"What? When?" she inquired

"Earlier, in your dorm room, when I said we needed to talk." I informed her "I thought you'd realise the real reason you said what you said when you were asleep."

"I was sleep-talking, Stefan. I say all sorts." she replied "I thought we'd discussed this?"

"We had, but now I've got to thinking about it I think there's more to it." I admitted

"Stefan…" she sighed

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't feel anything for me," I replied "tell me that and I'll walk away and forget any of this ever happened."

CAROLINE'S POV:

I swallowed a lump in my throat, finally realising how close Stefan and I were stood. I could feel the heat of his body radiating against me and I knew I had to look anywhere but his eyes. If I looked into his eyes, I'd crack…

"Caroline…" he spoke, snapping me from my trance

"I don't feel anything." I informed him "There. Can I go now?"

"Yeah," he replied, moving his hand from the side of the door, letting me move past him "but not without this…"

As I began to walk across the hallway to the stairs, he vamp-sped over to me and pressed his lips against mine, one hand cupping my cheek, the other tight on my waist, fisting at the t-shirt I was wearing. Pulling away from me, he smiled at me and pressed his lips against my forehead…

"Night, Caroline." he whispered

Well, things escalated quickly there, didn't they? What next, I wonder?